Dry cleaning machine



June 22, 1954 R. CREIGHTON ETAL DRY CLEANING MACHINE Mamas H. .Zae/ler Filed Jan. 8, 1949 fly @71 M Patented June 22, 1954 DRY CLEANING MACHINE Russell Creighton, Kenmore, and Thomas H.

Speller, Buffalo, N. Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 8, 194.9,jSerial No. 69,938

2 Claims. 1

"'JI'I'hiS :invention :relates to dry cleaning apparatus :for cleaning fabrics and the like with volatilesolvents and particularly to apparatus of this .class which isknown as itheiclosed type.

In closed type dry cleaning machines the several stepsincident to effecting a cleaning cycle of operation :are accomplished with the fabric same baseas the drum but which, in the present instance, is preferably located separately from :such base so as to be isolated from the vibration of the machine. From the filter unit the clean :SOIVBIlt is delivered back to the chamber which :contains theidrum so that it discharges against the drum continuously during the washing operation to replenish the solvent supply in the drum ichamber.

In dry (cleaning machines of the prior art it has been the practice, at the completionof the washingphaseor the cycle of operation, tooper- ,ate-certain valves whichby-pass the solvent com time from the filter so that his returned to the tank and continuously refiltered during subsequent operations After washing the drum is rotated rapidly to extract the soivent cen- :trifugallywith the drum chamber opened todrain into the tank.

In the subsequent reclaiming operation of ma- ..chincs of this character, warm air is blown through the clothes inthedrum aftercentrifugal extraction has taken place in order to recover the residual solvent from the garments, in vapor ,form, whereupon it is condensed and returned to the tank for subsequent filtration and reuse. ,This reclaiming. operation has conventionally been practiced by closingofi' thedrum and the reclaiming still or the like from the solvent reservoir or tank and the .filter unit.

We have found that a much simpler and more .efiicient dry cleaning machine results when the several valves involved inclosing off the reclaiming circuit from the filtering and washing circuit and the valves which. are employed in bypassing'the drum chamber to continuously filter solvent duringsubsequent operations are entirely eliminated. It has heretofore been considered unfeasible to washwith the washing chamber in free and open communication with the passages which take part in the reclaiming cycle of operation, such passages being principally the intake to the fan or blower and the chamber containing the distilling and condensing heat exchangers which accomplish reclamation of vaporized solvent.

It has further been found, according to the present invention, that by providing a filter of such efiiciency and capacity that a single fiow therethrough of used solvent is suflicientto place itin condition for satisfactory reuse, an arrangement is provided wherein the filter itself is in free and continuous communication with the wash chamber. That is, the discharge conduit from'the filter leadsdirectly tothewash chamber and, in normal use of the device throughout the dry cleaning cycle, there is no necessity for cutting off this communication or establishing any alternative by-pass conduit from the outlet side of the filter. It is thus merely necessary 'to arrange for the solvent pump to be de-energized at the conclusion of the washing cycle, whereupon filtration ceases until the beginning of the next subsequent washing cycle.

The elimination of the various valves heretofore considered necessary in a machine of this class is, of course, important because of the economy and simplicity of design, but is of more importance than would be the case in some other classes of machines because of the tendency of :valves in -a dry cleaning machine to become clogged and inoperative by reason of accumulation of lint andthe like. The elimination of mov- "ing parts such as valves and valve operators is also of greater importance in dry cleaning ma- :chines because of the corrosive effects of certain 10f the chemical reagents employed in the machines as detergents.

Various other objects and advantages which flow from employing the principles of the present invention will appear to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing which together set forth one exemplary form of apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that the scope of the invention is not limited to the form shown by way of example or otherwise than as defined in the appended claims.

The single figure of the drawing is a front elevational view, principally in crosssection, of a dry cleaning machine, showing in one form a practical application of the principles of the present invention.

The base upon which the machine generally is supported comprises a generally rectangular tank 10. The manner in which tank H] is mounted upon a floor or the like to eliminate vibration of the machine or, more properly, to eliminate transmission of such vibration to a building housing the machine, forms no part of the present invention and it is illustrated in detail in a copending application of Dario Anselmo, Serial No. 2,628, filed January 16, 1948.

As is generally conventional in machines of this class the washing apparatus proper comprises upper and lower housings H and [2, respectively, which form split bearing parts for rotatably supporting a conventional peripherally perforated washer drum l3. The lower housing member I2 is provided with an integral arcuate wall portion M which defines the lower part of the drum chamber and forms a vat for holding cleaning solvent through which drum l3 rotates during the washing cycle. Wall. 14 is provided at its bottom with a flap valve 16, which opens automatically at the conclusion of a washing cycle to dump the solvent from the vat into tank I0.

Operation of valve 16 and the timing and starting and stopping of the several phases of a complete cycle of dry cleaning, and the control of the various motors which enter into such cycle is by means of automatic timing and control mechanism not disclosed herein but illustrated and de scribed in detail and claimed in a copending patent application of Theodore G. Mueller, Serial No. 25,617, filed May '7, 1948, now Patent No. 2,560,516.

It is further to be understood that various connections and conduits extend between the tank, the filter and other units of the machine, but these conduits are closed during normal machine operation and are only opened by means of manual valves for clean-out and draining purposes and for occasional special purpose use, but the present disclosure and invention concerns itself primarily with the main solvent circuit and the warm air reclaiming circuit which are normally employed in the principal operation of the machine. In this normal operation of the machine of the present invention, the only periodic opening and closing of a valve is valve IE which is controlled by the timing mechanism referred to in the preceding paragraph.

In the drawing the numeral 18 designates a centrifugal solvent pump which is located near the bottom of tank In and has an operating motor i9 mounted upon tank Iii. The outlet conduit of pump [8 is designated 21 and extends to the bottom of the filtering portion of a filter unit 20, conduit 2| being normally open in the usual operation of the machine throughout its cleaning, extracting, and reclaiming steps. The upper outlet portion of filter unit 2!! has an outlet conduit 22 through which filtered solvent is led to the upper housing I l where it discharges as at 25 to be directed against the perforated periphery of drum 13.

The filter unit 2!! may be similar to that shown in detail in United States Letters Patent No. 2,328,565 to John E. Martin, granted September '7, 1943. The conduit designated 2'! in the drawing is the equivalent of the conduit M!) of the Martin patent and is one of those used only occasionally when the filter is being drained back to the tank.

The arcuate wall l4 meets the wall of lower housing 12 at one side and at its other side terminates short of the wall of housing l2 as at 3B in the drawing. An auxiliary wall supports this end of arcuate wall portion l4 and is designated 31 and is provided with a normally open flap valve 32 which is closed only for special purposes not entering into present considerations.

'Thus, during the washing cycle filtered solvent is continuously fed against drum l3 and thus into the vat formed by arcuate wall portion I4 and the height of the bridge or clam formed by the portion 30 of wall 14 determines the depth of solvent in the vat through which the drum rotates. Excess solvent is substantially continuously spilling over such bridge and through the open passage in wall 3| past the normally open valve 32, from whence it falls into tank 10 where it is again ultimately picked up by pump I8 and fed to the filter.

During the washing operation a relatively small motor 35 operating through a reduction drive, including belts 3E and 31, rotates drum H at a relatively slow speed. At the conclusion of the washing cycle a larger and more powerful motor 33 operating only through the belt drive 31 and thus rotating drum I3 at a much greater speed operates to centrifugally extract solvent from the articles in drum 13 by reason of the high speed rotation. This motor arrangement is conventional, the larger motor 38 having free Wheeling connection with the intermediate shaft 4!! which is rotated by either of the motors and, 1r; turn, rotates the mounting shaft 41 of drum I At the conclusion of the extraction cycle, the large motor 40 stops and the smaller motor 35 again rotates drum 13 at a relatively slower speed during the solvent reclaiming period. During both the extracting and reclaiming cycles solvent pump motor I9 is inactive and there is no flow of solvent in the solvent circuit including the tank I i], filter unit 20 and the drum chamber.

At the beginning of the reclaiming cycle an air displacement fan 43 is set into operation by energization of its driving motor 44, and fan 43 draws air from within the drum i3 and the generally cylindrical chamber in which it is housed and through a passage 45 formed in upper housing member II. An outlet portion 46 of a fan housing 41 directs the solvent bearing air against a heat exchanger 50 through which a cooling fluid is circulated as, for instance, the ordinary city water supply in most instances.

This causes the solvent suspended in the air passing over the heat exchanger to condense and fall into a trough formation 48 in upper housing member H and drain into a conduit indicated at 49 which leads to a gravity type solvent-water separator (not shown), the solvent being subsequently returned to tank l0. After the air passing through the upper portion of upper housing,

H has thus been rid of all or most of its cleaning solvent, it passes through a second heat exchanger 5! through which steam or the like is circulated so that the air is then heated and again passed through the drum chamber by virtue of a passage 52 formed in upper housing II by plates 53 and 54 which are fixed therein. It will be noted that air passage 52 and solvent conduit 25 are both in open and continuous fluid communication with the interior of the drum chamher.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dry cleaning machine, a drum chamber and a rotatable material holding drum therein, a solvent tank beneath said chamber, a bridge wall in said chamber at one side of said drum to determine the level of solvent in said chamber, the space at the other side of said bridge wall having a normally open gravity drain passage to said tank, a filter unit and a pump for delivering solvent thereto from said tank, the upper portion of said drum chamber having an opening therein, an outlet conduit from saidfilter unit having open conduit connection with said drum chamber, and solvent reclaiming means including an air displacing fan having its intake side in open conduit connection with said drum chamber at the side opposite to said drum chamber opening and its outlet side directed into said drum chamber opening.

2. In a dry cleaning machine, a drum chamber and. a rotatable material holding drum therein, a solvent tank beneath said chamber, a bridge wall in said chamber at one side of said drum to determine the level ofi solvent in said chamber, the space at the other side of said bridge wall having a normally open gravity drain passage to said tank, a filter unit and a pump for deliverand its outlet side directed into said drum cham her opening, and means rendering said pump inoperative at the conclusion of a washing cycle whereby solvent does not flow in the filter circuit during operation of said reclaiming means fan.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,011,083 Sando Aug. 13, 1935 2,019,011 Johnson Oct. 29, 1935 2,074,508 Hetzer Mar. 23, 1937 2,301,803 Davis Nov. 10, 1942 2,307,254 Bassett Jan. 5, 1943 2,400,726 Wright May 21, 1946 

